Genipher's Journal

[Genipher]

My Momma taught me, from the time I was a little girl, how to get your way. I can still hear her saying, "You take a tiny little seed, you plant it in his mind, you water it, watch it grow and it comes out his mouth, all his idea. Then you say, I'M SO GLAD YOU THOUGHT OF THAT!"

Girl, you just ain't doin' it right.

Im just not very good at that, I guess.

I've given loads of reasons to move. He agrees with most of my reasons but moving sounds so overwhelming, it's hard for him to consider it.

 

[Genipher]

Since our fence and temporary gate broke down, the dogs and goats have been mingling freely.

Our mutt, Toby (above) is usually pretty good with the goats. He tends to leave them alone unless there's a human outside giving them attention... then, for some reason, he feels the need to chase them. sigh

Today the kids told me he was trying to nip them or lick them...not really sure what he was doing but Alice's neck was wet with slobber. Just when I think I can trust him alone outside!

Can a dog ever really be trusted around goats?

(What? I didn't do nuffin!)

 

[SA Farm]

When I had goats, my herd queen never let my dog anywhere near her or her herd, so I never really worried about it. With my ewes I’d be more concerned as they don’t have horns and would much rather run than confront even my little beagle.

 

[Genipher]

When I had goats, my herd queen never let my dog anywhere near her or her herd, so I never really worried about it. With my ewes I’d be more concerned as they don’t have horns and would much rather run than confront even my little beagle.

Mine are growing horns but they don't use them against the dogs. They just run. Toby the mutt seems to enjoy separating the two goats, causing them to cry for each other.

 

[Bruce]

I've given loads of reasons to move. He agrees with most of my reasons but moving sounds so overwhelming, it's hard for him to consider it.

Well he is right about that. Unless you are the rare people who don't keep stuff that isn't used frequently, sorting through it and packing it all up is really overwhelming and stressful. There are (at least a my house) so many things you can't even categorize as "this would be packed with that" stuff (notice how I didn't use the word junk) that hasn't been looked at or used in years. The kids will need a big dumpster when we die and they get to deal with it.

Perhaps you could start on the downsizing of stuff you really don't need or use so the "pile" looks smaller.

 

[Baymule]

Im just not very good at that, I guess.

I've given loads of reasons to move. He agrees with most of my reasons but moving sounds so overwhelming, it's hard for him to consider it.

If you REALLY want to move, then just do it. Start looking for places, then drag him out to look at them. That's what I did. I talked about it first, I looked online and found places I wanted to go see. But by the time we could get up here, they would be sold. BUT I got him in moving mode. We had been in the same town for 35 years, it was a pretty big deal to move 160 miles away. Plus we downsized on the house from 2500 square feet to 1500 square feet. That was a big deal too. We had a business and were well known, heck we knew practically everybody, we moved and didn't know anybody except our daughter, her family and a few of their friends. We are in a great neighborhood, we love our neighbors and are having the time of our lives.

So my advice to you is get up off your butt and just drag him along. Have a garage sale and get rid of stuff you don't want to move. Tell him what you are doing and why. Tell him WE ARE MOVING. Convince yourself, then you can convince him. Go for it. If you keep waffling around, you won't do a durned thing. Do it.

 

[Baymule]

Your mutt, Toby, reminds me of a Labrador we had. We made a delivery of furniture to a family that had Labradors. There was a litter of puppies swirling around our feet, all black except one. He was brindled. I picked him up and asked what she did with all the dogs (there were chain link kennels out back) and she said that she sold them. My husband pointed to the puppy I was holding and said "I want that one." She replied, "You can have him." And that is how Danny came into our lives. I guess she wanted him gone because he was mismarked, but we thought he was beautiful. He was our beloved Danny Dog.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/danny-dog.611066/

 

[Genipher]

Your mutt, Toby, reminds me of a Labrador we had. We made a delivery of furniture to a family that had Labradors. There was a litter of puppies swirling around our feet, all black except one. He was brindled. I picked him up and asked what she did with all the dogs (there were chain link kennels out back) and she said that she sold them. My husband pointed to the puppy I was holding and said "I want that one." She replied, "You can have him." And that is how Danny came into our lives. I guess she wanted him gone because he was mismarked, but we thought he was beautiful. He was our beloved Danny Dog.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/danny-dog.611066/

Awwww! I read your link about Danny. He sounds soooo much like Toby! Toby chews anything and everything he finds outside. I was hoping that was a puppy trait but it sounds like it's the Lab part of him.

He can't jump our fences, thankfully (they're too tall) but the few times we allowed him in the front with us he started wandering off. One of the kids took out the garbage one day and he must've slipped out because I found him sniffing around the public school, next door. sigh.

We get a lot of compliments on his brindle coloring. When he was younger he looked more "tiger-ish. Really drew our attention.

He's a good boy....let's the 2 -year-old lay on him and cuddle...but I wish he'd stop destroying everything. He's killed our hose and one of my girls, for some reason, took her GIANT stuffed bear outside and LEFT IT. Found it missing an arm, an eye, and, um, its rear end. Fluff aaaaaall over the yard!!

 

[Genipher]

Every night I feed the goats a bit of alfalfa and sunflower seeds. Alice and Lucy like to follow me into the storage side of the shed and play on the stacked hay while I scoop their treat.

Amazingly enough, the tall baby gate keeps them on their side! I was worried they'd try to jump it but they haven't.


Remember that friend I mentioned, who hadn't said anything about my goats and I thought she was being kinda rude ignoring my goaty dreams? Well, we were at a get-together this last Saturday and she overheard me talking about the goats. Her jaw dropped and she said, "Genipher! I didn't know you got goats! Why didn't you tell me?!"
Her teen daughter is BFFs with my teen daughter, so I assumed the news had traveled to her ears.
What do they say about assuming, again?

Anyway, next time she's over I'll show her the goats. Maybe she's not as indifferent as I thought!


Alice and Lucy are only 4 months old but I'm already dreaming about their future babies. I was thinking of having them bred this December, if they weigh enough. Correct me if I'm wrong but they need to be around 40# to be bred, right?

Just went out to weigh the goats for the first time. Alice is 23.8lbs and Lucy is 24.4lbs. Which is interesting because Alice looks and feels heavier. Guess she just has a bigger belly!

So I took a glance at Craigslist to see what I could find for buck studs in my area and there is NOTHING close to me. I did, however, spot a beautiful buckling for $50 that will be ready for a new home in September. One part of me says, "No, no, NO!" But the other part of me thinks, "How bad can a buck be?"

Help a newbie out. I can't do AI and can't find a stud...keeping my own buck, in town, is a logical decision...right? Right??

 

[SA Farm]

I’m dreaming of my future lambs and certainly got excited about my goat kids back when I had them too

I typically make sure my girls will be a year old or older when they’re ready to kid/lamb, as I don’t have an easy way to weigh them (yet), my rule of thumb is 8 months. Older if they don’t feel or look mature enough.
When I had my Nigerians, I bought a new buck every spring, raised him up, kept him around long enough to, er, get the job done, then I would rehome him (or send him to freezer camp in one case) before he had the opportunity to become super stinky.
The one mature buck we had one year stank so bad our entire property reeked. We couldn’t open the windows without his stench inundating everything
I seriously don’t recommend keeping a buck in town based on that experience